Truths About Slytherin House
by Discovercat
Summary: A little peek into the minds and lives of those who dwell in the den of serpents.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling, not me.

A/N: Please enjoy my little contribution to Potterverse. ^_^

1. Pansy Parkinson was almost in Hufflepuff.

When Pansy Parkinson's name was called to go sit on the stool to be sorted, she was nervous. This was the first time all eyes would be on her, and the lessons from the many pureblood etiquette classes her mother had forced upon her left her head. Draco, one of her few childhood friends, had already been sorted and even now he watched her progress from the Slytherin table. Pansy sat on the stool and the deputy headmistress, a woman who didn't seem nearly as muggle-loving as her mother had demonized her to be (though that might be because muggle–loving wasn't a physical characteristic like her mother would have her believe), placed the Sorting Hat on her head.

"A Parkinson, haven't had one of you in a while." The Sorting Hat's voice didn't surprise her as both her mother and her father had told her about the process.

"I want to be Slytherin." She immediately thought. Her mother and father had said that that was the House To Be In, and, an even more important reason: Draco was there.

"Are you sure? You have Slytherin's qualities, ambition and cunning, but Hufflepuff would allow you to truly shine. Your loyalty and hard-work ethic is surprising in one so young."

Pansy was horrified; of all the houses, Hufflepuff was the one she would never consider being in. Draco had even said he'd leave school if he were put in it. If she was placed there, he wouldn't ever talk to her again, never mind that her parents would disown her. Parkinsons weren't loyal and hardworking (no matter how much Pansy privately thought that a little hard work might benefit her father's frequency of promotions), they were ambitious and cunning. They got others to do the hard work for them.

"Slytherin! Put me in Slytherin!" Her entire future would be ruined if yellow was ever one of her house colors. "I'm definitely more ambitious than loyal; I'm already plotting how I'm going to get Draco to make me the next Lady Malfoy! I can't be Lady Malfoy if I'm in Hufflepuff!" And she already was plotting. Some girls wanted to grow up to be an Auror or a Quidditch player; Pansy wanted to become the next queen of Pureblood society and the only way to do that was to become Lady Malfoy. All others, including her own mother, were just sorry copies.

The Sorting Hat was silent as it digested the fact that an eleven year girl's life dream was to marry for position in society, and that she had already made solid plans to achieve those goals. "Fine. In that case it's SLYTHERIN!"

Pansy smiled as she walked towards the table of silver and green where her future husband was sitting.

She would never tell anyone about the Sorting Hat's momentary insanity.

2. Millicent Bulstrode was almost in Ravenclaw.

Millicent Bulstrode was one of the first first-years to be Sorted but since she didn't know many of the others she didn't mind. She walked to the stool in her own time and tried not to hear the snickers or comments about her resemblance to a hag. Despite the many times that she'd heard those same remarks from her family, they still stung. Her height didn't help matters; she already towered over all her peers.

She sat gingerly on the stool and stared at her feet. Professor McGonagall put the Sorting hat on her rat's nest of a head which, regardless of the many potions and charms her mother had put on it to keep it straight, still managed to look like she'd been hit by a lightning charm. Of course, the Sorting hat looked like they'd stolen it from a drunken old hobo so she guessed it wouldn't look too out of place on her head.

"I resent that!'

Millicent started at the voice in her head. "What?" She thought.

"You have too much potential to be making such quick assumptions. And an intelligence that would do Ravenclaw proud."

"The Sorting Hat?" Was the next thing to go through her mind, then, "not Ravenclaw, Slytherin." Her mother would kill her if she didn't get into Slytherin. All the clothes she'd been sent with had some combination of silver and green in them.

"There's cunning here too, and enough ambition, but in Ravenclaw you-"

"Slytherin! Slytherin!" Obviously this hat did not understand the life or death situation she'd be in if her mother had to change her color scheme. It was said that every pureblood woman had her quirk, and colors were her mothers. On anticipation of Millicent's entrance into Slytherin, her mother had already redone the entire house in the colors of her old school House. If Millicent didn't get those colors, she might as well not go home.

"Well then, if you're so sure. SLYTHERIN!"

Millicent went to sit with her housemates secure in the knowledge that her school year would not begin with her mother too angry at her. Madam Bulstrode would be slightly angry when her daughter refused to give exact details of her Sorting but not to the extent that she would be were Millicent as stupid as to give her mother the whole truth. She'd stopped doing that ages ago.

3. Daphne Greengrass wanted to be in Ravenclaw.

Daphne Greengrass barely listened to the Sorting Hat trill on about unity and such. What she did do was pay attention to what students went where and if they matched the guesses she'd made when scoping them all out on Platform 3 ¾ and on the Hogwarts Express. For the most part she was correct although she had been sure that the Granger girl would be in Ravenclaw. Actually, she was kind of upset about that. She planned to be in Ravenclaw and a few moments in Granger's company listening to the girl go on about the spells she'd already learned and the toad of some boy she'd never met had convinced her Granger would be a good friend to have. No matter, Ravenclaw had no real issues with anyone so it wouldn't be too hard to befriend the girl anyway.

She was also annoyed that the famous Harry Potter had already gotten close to a Weasely. Not that she had anything against the Weasely in particular. It was just that Weaselys were known for being consummate bleeding-heart Gryffindors and it was such a waste that a wizard with such potential would go that way. It was so unfair that they had such a famous wizard in their year and he chose a Weasely over a Malfoy. If he'd chosen Malfoy she would've had some hope that he had some sort of ambition that would allow him to fit into her plans. Unfortunately, now he clearly didn't, but again, Ravenclaw was a neutral house so no one would be suspicious if they became acquaintances.

Ravenclaw was the entire reason she'd come to Hogwarts. Her mother had wanted her to go to Beauxbatons because she'd graduated from there, but since Hogwarts offered more courses that Daphne was interested in, and because she'd learned from eavesdropping on her father's business conversations that both a Malfoy and Potter would be coming, as well as other kids of important families, she decided to come here. Daphne already had plans about how she would change the world and she needed powerful allies (read tools) to carry them out. She knew that she had more stereotypical Slytherin qualities, but she'd always felt that a true Slytherin would get themselves placed in another House so no one would suspect them. That was where Ravenclaw came in: a house for the smart and intelligent that had no real biases against the other Houses which would allow her to make friends as she pleased without being suspected of an ulterior motive. If anyone ever asked her about a friendship outside her House she could just cite something about studying and everyone would believe her. That seemed to be the only negative stereotype about the Ravenclaw House, that they would do anything to study better and get the best grades.

Her name was called and she made her way to stool, already picturing her life in Ravenclaw. She sat down and thought Ravenclaw with all her might as the Hat brushed her top of her braids.

"I refuse to do that to the rest of the world." A dismayed voice said in her head.

She had a moment to think "What?" then the Hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" before it even settled completely on her head and ruined all the plans she'd made since she'd learned she would be sent off to boarding school.

After a moment of shock, she strode proudly to her new House, already altering plans in her head.

She refused to let this be anything other than a minor setback.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

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4. Every Slytherin wishes they'd gotten into a different House at least once during their first year.

None of the older students ever takes the time to explain the differences of Slytherin House or how to deal with them; they know its best to let the younger students learn from experience. They don't ever explain why they don't complain that they're the only House with no windows or that no matter how warm and homey you try to make it, dungeons are dungeons and no wonder Slytherin got fed up and left because he was freakin gypped.

It took Pansy five times to realize that maybe it wasn't the Hogwarts' moving staircases that were getting her lost, but the directions that a surprisingly friendly Hufflepuff kept giving her. And she only figured it out because Adrian Pucey overheard her fuming about it when she'd almost got detention from ending up in one of the school's restricted areas.

"Who'd you get directions from?" He'd asked, leaning over the couch where she'd been complaining to Draco, Greg, and Vince. "Isn't that boy a _Hufflepuff_?"

Pansy had blushed and nodded. "Professor McGonagall held me back and I didn't want to be late for the next class and he was just waiting there so I just asked him. He's a fellow pureblood isn't he?"

Adrian gave her a steady stare. "Did his House colors change while I wasn't looking? Is he now Slytherin like us?"

The 'us' was stressed and clearly excluded any one not of the House of snakes. Thinking back on it, Pansy remembered that her parents did distinguish between the former Houses of their acquaintances, but she had always thought that in a school full of halfbloods and mudbloods, all the purebloods would stick together a little bit.

"No." Pansy stammered, hating herself for the unplanned show of weakness in front of Draco.

"Then asking him for anything was a lapse in judgment on your part." He crossed his arms, dark brown eyes boring into her own trying to make her grasp the lesson beyond just what he was saying about this one Hufflepuff boy who gave her false directions. "One that took you several times to learn."

"Yes." Pansy didn't look at the boys sitting with her, at the other students who had stopped to watch, at the older girl in the corner who was taking notes, at Draco. "I won't do it again."

"I'm sure you won't." He moved those penetrating eyes to Draco. "And I'm sure that you will ensure that your Housemate is not in the position where she has to rely on another House again." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"No." Draco didn't gulp but he paled under the older boy's gaze.

"Good." Adrian had nodded once and turned away, back to the two dark-haired boys who'd stood right behind. Older boys she'd been introduced to but had not remembered like she'd remembered the blond with the piercing eyes.

After that, Draco made sure that she was never left alone when class ended or when she was outside of Slytherin, something she appreciated, even if she wanted to die the first time someone, a Gryffindor, barked at her while she was walking with him.

Her dislike of the House of lions became personal in that instant though a small voice pointed out that it could have been avoided had she been in Hufflepuff.

It took Millicent three times to realize that the only directions that didn't get her lost were those that came from her fellow housemates.

Snape found her wandering aimlessly in the dungeons the third time after directions from a Ravenclaw took her into them using an entrance that had been sealed fifteen years beforehand because it was part of a labyrinth meant for the castle's defense and students could get lost in it for days.

"Dunderheads." Snape had muttered under his breath as he navigated them out of the maze.

The walls and turns all looked the same to Millicent, but he seemed to know exactly where to go. She was almost running to keep pace with his long strides but he didn't slow down until they were out of the maze and into the first familiar hallway she'd seen in hours.

He led them to his office at a more sedate pace.

"Where are your classmates?" He fired at her once she sat down and took a sip of the hot chocolate he handed her. It had been freezing in the labyrinth and the chocolate felt like ambrosia to her senses.

"In our dorm I think sir." She took another sip. "I think Daphne and Theo might still be in the library."

"I see." He sat in his chair and pressed his hands together. "And which of your older classmates told you how to get into that particular section of the dungeon? One that you could have been lost in indefinitely had I not discovered your presence soon enough."

Indefinitely… that meant forever didn't it? Millicent shivered. "It was a boy from Ravenclaw sir. I didn't remember how to get back here from where I was."

"A Ravenclaw." His face darkened and Millicent saw why the other Houses feared him. "You wouldn't happen to know his name?"

Millicent gave him the best description of the boy she could, and of the friends that had been with him at the time.

Snape's expression remained neutral until she finished, then his lips tilted into a truly evil half smile for a second that imprinted on her mind for the rest of her career in Hogwarts of why you did not mess with the Potions Master. "Ah… it seems that Mr. Daffenton has earned himself several detentions with myself and Mr. Filch."

Millicent sipped more of her drink, thinking that she didn't envy them. The professor seemed to be musing to himself more than talking to her.

"However, Ms. Bulstrode. It would behoove you to be more discerning in whom you take directions from, in which House you put your trust in."

"Yes, professor." Millicent couldn't look away from his dark knowing eyes.

"And despite whatever problems you may have with your peers inside our House, outside we're all friends and staunch allies, understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"So were I to find you alone in the hallways again." His voice softened; some how it only made him more menacing. "I would be very disappointed in you and the points I'd be forced to take from our House."

"I understand." She said although she really didn't.

But a few days later, when a mixed group of the other Houses laughed at her when two redheads, deemed the 'bane of our existence' by the older students, yelled 'hag' while pointing at her and pretending to faint, and only Pansy's reassuring hand and Theo's and Blaise's glare at the offenders that kept her from breaking down and crying right then, Millicent understood. And she only allowed herself a few moments of wishing she'd taken the hat's advice and joined Ravenclaw.

It only took Daphne one time to realize that directions from other Houses were not to be trusted.

A huge sharp-fanged snarling three headed dog will drive home truths like that into you fast.

She'd been talking to a Ravenclaw third year about how she couldn't wait to take Arithmancy when the girl's friend had come over and whispered something in her ear. Daphne should have known something was up when the girl she'd been talking to frowned and said "no, her House is irreverent."

But the conversation had been interesting and the girl had seemed just as nice as the older girls in her own dorm, if more open and less crafty, so she'd ignored the warning bells, continued the conversation, and taken the 'shortcut' to Professor Flitwick's office.

Thirteen minutes later, she was screaming and running down the hall, praying that she'd remembered to shut the door behind her. She didn't stop until she was safely sequestered in one of the unused classrooms near the dungeon. She huddled, shaking in the corner adjacent to the door, with her wand out. Tears were on her face and she didn't know if they were from fear of that animal or betrayal of someone she'd thought was a potential friend and she wished with all her being that the hat had put her in Ravenclaw or any House but this because this is why she hadn't wanted to be in here.

Her father's letter had said that her sorting showed that all stereotypes weren't true because he, like many wizards, truly believed that you had to be a little Dark to get into Salazar's House.

Her father: a respected Head of a neutral pureblood line.

Daphne wanted to throw up. She wanted to ignore all the lessons her mother had given her on friendships and just use tools as they were presented to her.

She almost hexed Violetta Canablia when the girl threw open the door, emerald green hair flaring out behind her from how quickly she turned to Daphne's position.

"What is wrong with you?" Violetta demanded, hands on her hip.

Daphne forced herself to unfurl, to stand up and put away her wand. "Nothing."

The older Slytherin girl was a fourth year prefect and used to being obeyed. "Nothing? What is this nothing that makes you tear through the hallways like some uncouth Gryffindor that makes _me_ get points taken away from my 'lack of proper mentoring'? 'Lack of proper mentoring'!" Violetta clenched her fists. "That Gryffindor bitch is always making up stuff just because she doesn't like my hair." Her hair had been silver the week before.

Daphne didn't know how to respond. Part of her said, 'tell the truth,' while another demanded that she lie and figure out how to handle it on her own.

"Hey! Earth to firstie." Violetta walked closer, hips swiveling as she did. "Greengrass. I don't expect this behavior from you. Parkinson or that idiot Davis, maybe. But not you. So I know something's up. Tell me so we can do something about it. You'll get your turn to handle business in a couple of years."

"I… I got bad directions." Daphne had never seen the other girl so serious. Violetta was always laughing with her friends, arguing with the sixth year prefect Aiodhe O'Reilly or boasting about some successful masquerade she'd pulled off. Never like this. So she decided to take a chance, trusting that the girl wouldn't use this in the future to humiliate her (trusting that she'd be able to get something on the girl to protect herself). "I'm still getting use to Hogwarts so I didn't realize I was in the forbidden corridor until I opened a door and saw this huge monster dog."

Violetta didn't accuse her of lying or laugh at her. "So you saw it? Don't worry about that. It's chained to the floor, protecting something probably, so it can't hurt you." She waved that away. "Now who gave you those directions? Not one of us, I hope."

"Two Ravenclaw third years. Sally Jerkins and Richard something." Daphne's fear and adrenaline had worn off; now she was wondering if she should go to a teacher about them. She was also wondering how Violetta knew about the dog and the chain. Daphne hadn't stayed around long enough to notice a chain or anything else beyond the long sharp teeth and the rancid breath of the _three_ heads before her, the three heads the size of her body.

"Jerkins and Carden." Violetta crossed her arms and stared into the distance for a moment, then focused her dark blue eyes on Daphne. "Don't bother telling any teachers. I'll make sure that the situation is taken care of. Pay attention and learn something. That'll be my mentoring for the week. I'll see how McGonagall likes this." She chuckled and walked to the door.

"Thanks." She was grateful to know that someone would be doing something.

"Don't thank me. This is business as usual, unfortunately. You'd think they'd learn."

"Okay." Daphne was smart enough to know when to keep her mouth shut. She didn't think 'they' referred just to her tormentors.

"And Greengrass," Violetta twisted to look at Daphne over her shoulder. "Make sure that you get directions from someone more reliable next time. And at least until you're more familiar with Hogwarts, stay close to your year mates." She tapped her Slytherin crest. "Even I did at your age."

The older girl left and Daphne took her advice to heart, making sure that she was always with at least one of her housemates when she went out, even if it was Crabbe or Goyle who both suffered from appalling educational deficiencies that made them seem almost mute at times.

A week after the incident, Jerkins and Carden were unfortunate enough to get caught by McGonagall in the forbidden third year floor corridor indulging in lewd behavior. Though both parties and all of their friends said that they were not the ones there and neither were they involved together, they got detention with Filch and Snape for the rest of the year.

Dumbledore announced the punishment at breakfast in order to continue to stress how serious he was about people staying out of the forbidden areas.

"How's that for mentoring?" Violetta asked Daphne.

The older students let the first years learn that the S on your robes guarantees that directions procured from older students from other Houses will not take you to the classroom you wanted to go to, or that you will automatically be blamed for anything gone wrong regardless of if you were even participating in the event. Other Houses will hate you because of Professor Snape, the only professor on your side; the older students already do, while the younger learn to with every sarcastic comment about dunderheads.

Quidditch is the worst. No matter who Slytherin is playing, everyone else is rooting for the other team. The only non green and silver wearing people touting the house of the serpent are the parents of said serpents. Even Professor Dumbledore, the so-called impartial Headmaster, tends to take the other side. The Slytherin team is called cheaters and liars by the other Houses even when they do nothing or the other team is doing the same thing. And Lee Jordan is considered to be one of the most terrible things to happen to Quidditch announcing by the Slytherin House. He is blatantly prejudiced towards Slytherin and gets away with it.

Slytherin House is demonized by both the students of Hogwarts and the rest of the wizarding world, to the point where someone could say 'not a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin' and not be contradicted or students sorted into the House send hysterical letters to their parents because they 'didn't think that they were Dark'. Because that is what most wizards and witches believe, and all though at eleven years old the Slytherin first years aren't evil or slimy and are just as concerned with remembering where all their classes are as the rest of the first years, they're seen that way and the other students act accordingly.

Millicent walked into the first years girl's dorm, halfway through the third week of school and found Tracey Davis curled up on her bed, crying silently. The rest of the Slytherin female first years were already in the room: Pansy standing a few inches away from Tracey's shaking form on the left side with Daphne almost mirroring her position on the other side. They both looked up when she came in and Daphne motioned to the door; Tracey didn't budge.

After shutting and locking the door, Millicent stood in front of the bed. Daphne moved her wand in gesture that hadn't been taught in school yet and suddenly there was sound to Tracey's sobs.

" I don't want to be here!" She wailed. " I wanted to be in Hufflepuff! Why am I here?"

Millicent exchanged glances with the others and they all shared the same helplessness, even Daphne which surprised Millicent. Neither she nor Millicent commented on Pansy's blush.

" Why is everyone so mean? I can't take this anymore! Its not fair." Each word was punctuated by a larger sob. "I'm not evil and I don't practice the Dark Arts!"

Pansy sat tentatively on the edge of Tracey's bed and awkwardly patted the crying girl's back. " I know."

Tracey looked up at her with red-rimmed eyes and a runny nose. " You do?"

The blonde nodded. " I don't think I look like a pug dog."

" You don't." All the other girls said in unison, despite what they were thinking privately. The moment was beyond petty differences and the first show of female Slytherin solidarity that they'd had since they moved in. This caused Tracey to burst into tears again.

They stood there for what felt like hours watching Tracey cry because they all understood.

Pansy had cried in the showers the second week after a group of fifth year Gryffindors had called her a pug and followed her making barking noises all through the castle until she got to the Great Hall for lunch and didn't stop until Violetta and Adrian had threatened to get Professor Snape.

Millicent had cried on the weekend when the room was empty after some older students from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff pretended to commit suicide in various ways at the sight of her face. It was worse than the directions because going after them would only encourage them, and it wasn't the sort of thing she could go to her head of house for. Violetta had stopped by afterwards to ask her how she was doing.

Daphne didn't cry; as she had been healed at Madame Pomfrey's four days before she'd plotted and memorized the names and faces of all who called her Medusa then charmed her thick braids into snakes which hissed and bit her. Crying would show that they had gotten to her and despite the creative ways she killed them in her mind she refused to admit that it affected her at all; the dampness of her pillow when she woke up the next morning had just been sweat. And she'd had something in her eye when Violetta'd stopped by to get specifics and mention that Aiodhe dealing with it personally.

Finally, one of the older girls knocked on the door in indication that dinner was starting. Tracey took a deep breath and the tears stopped. She wiped her face with a handkerchief Daphne handed to her, and then got off the bed. Pansy used a vanity charm to hide the redness of Tracey's eyes although they remained puffy. In just a few seconds they had managed to remove most traces of how the girl had spent her afternoon. Millicent nodded once Tracey finished righting her uniform.

Another glance was shared between all four Slytherin girls and they felt unified once more even it was a moment. No one else would ever hear about it. That was the way it worked. What happened in Slytherin, stayed in Slytherin, and you never let them know that what they did affected you. You didn't let them know that you weren't together.

Daphne couldn't stand Tracey, barely tolerated Pansy, and wasn't sure if Millicent was mute.

Pansy thought Tracey was an idiot, disliked Daphne, and was scared of Millicent because she thought she really did look like a hag in the dark.

Millicent scarcely remembered Tracey's existence, thought Daphne was stuck up, and Pansy was shallow.

In another first they walked to dinner together and sat next to each other.

Snape noted this and smiled cynically. Dumbledore noted it and lost his twinkle for a brief second. The older Slytherins didn't comment on it because it was another generation learning where their loyalties needed to lie and the other Houses didn't understand.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, own do I not.

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5. Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle are Draco Malfoy's best friends.

The first time Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle came over to play at Draco Malfoy's house he was five. His father had spent the previous night lecturing him about honor and the importance of loyalty in your minions, but all Draco had been able to grasp was that he was going to be able to play with people his own age.

He only had two friends before this play-date: that house elf Doshy or Doddy, and his father's cane; neither of them was actually any fun. The house elf had spent most of their time together crying and beating himself, leading to Draco's father discovering them, administering his own house elf beating a la cane, and then lecturing Draco on proper conduct among servants and the correct angle to hold your cane to cause the maximum amount of pain.

(Draco had once overheard someone say that his father was not a nice person. His father had told that wizard that he was 'civilized' before backhanding the wizard across the face with his cane. Draco had decided that he wanted to be civilized too.)

His father's cane, which he had affectionately dubbed Snakey, became his friend one day when his father forgot it in the nursery. Draco carried it around with him and tried to use it like he'd seen his father do. His mother discovered him when he was using it to break her flower pots while screaming "worthless scum!" She had Not Been Amused. His father slept in the stable for two weeks and told anyone who would listen that the cane marks on his face were from falling down the stairs.

It was one of Draco's first glimpses of who really held the power in Malfoy manor.

Unfortunately, his mother did not give him any advice before his friends (even if they didn't want to be) came over, so he was forced to rely on his father's.

They came midday, in between breakfast and lunch, and Draco was playing in the garden with his flying broomstick. His father had walked in followed by two large men cut from the same hulking trollish mold, the kind whom Draco would have been scared of and run screaming from if he wasn't a Malfoy and 'above such plebian notions as fear' (Draco didn't understand half of what his father said to him but he was pretty sure that this statement would apply). Behind them all were two small boys.

Draco got off his broom at their approach and looked to his father for guidance. Lucius smirked in approval. "Draco, these are my… associates Crabbe and Goyle." He didn't bother pointing out which was which. "And their sons, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. They will be your associates."

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Draco gave them the customary pureblood greeting bow.

One of his father's associates grunted; the other nodded. Draco hoped that their sons were more talkative. They just stared dumbly at him. The associate who had grunted nudged the boy closest to him with his foot. That one quickly bowed and the other followed his example. Neither bow was anything that his father would have allowed him to do in public.

After a beat of silence, his father cleared his throat. Crabbe and Goyle flinched and their boys jumped. Lucius's smirk widened and Draco copied him. When the previously neutral look in the boys' eyes turned into one of trepidation, Draco knew that hours spent practicing in front of the mirror had paid off. Soon, he too would be able to claim civilization.

"Well, why don't we let the boys get acquainted," his father drawled. "Draco, we shall be in the drawing room." Lucius left, his associates trailing after him like lost puppies. The door closed behind them.

Without the presence of their fathers, Draco examined his new 'associates' (he made a mental note to ask his mother what that meant, probably another word for 'friend' but with his father you never knew). The one on the left, he wasn't sure of their names, was taller than him; the other one was shorter than him. Both had dark brown hair, but the one on the right's was lighter. The one with lighter hair had it traditionally cut, a bowl cut. The one with darker hair had his cut close to his scalp. The short boy was soft looking, while the tall boy was thinner than Draco. Both looked much more intelligent now that they were alone in the room.

"So," Draco began, attempting a drawl like his father and failing miserably. "Who are you again?"

The taller boy gave a half-smile. "I'm Vincent. Please don't make that sound again."

The other boy, Gregory Goyle, nodded vigorously and giggled. Draco cringed. "I'm Gregory, but you can call me Greg."

Draco nodded. At this point, he was sure his father would have expanded on their duties as his associates and laid down the Malfoy rules and codes of conduct. Unfortunately for Lucius and his desire for Draco to be pint size replica of him, Draco did not have the patience or stamina to do this after already being still and polite once today.

So instead, he hopped on his toy broomstick. "Whoever catches me gets next ride!" He zoomed around the room, and the other boys, nervousness forgotten, followed him.

Just like that, Draco cemented his first real friendship, based on mutual enjoyment and sharing. (Later on, after the boys have gone home and Draco's been scolded for joining them in ambushing the peacocks with mud, Lucius will say manfully (cry) to Narcissa that he 'went wrong' and 'sharing! Malfoys don't share!' and 'he said they were friends, this is worse than the house elf!' while Narcissa calmly listens to (consoles) him.)

As his father and theirs continued to get together, Draco was exposed to them more than other children.

They explored the vast moving gardens on his estate, the ruins on Vince's, and the forest on the edge of Greg's. Cleaning spells were one of his most frequent bouts of accidental magic in defense against his mother's anger at the robes he undoubtedly got dirty during his adventures.

One of their favorite stories is about the Three Peverall brothers and they always argued about who got to be who. There's a stream that runs through the west side of Draco's estate and they liked to stage it in front of the bridge there, although their version has more duels and more often than not both the brother with the wand and the one with the cloak beat out death. Though sometimes, when his father had bigger get-togethers and Pansy or Marcus or Theodore or the Montague twins were over, Draco played Death and beat them all. The other kids usually argued with this turn of events, but Vince and Greg always took his side so he won.

Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini came to his house too, but Theo was too quiet and boring to interest him and Blaise's stillness and constant alertness scared him. (It doesn't help his friendship with Blaise that his father had told him to watch him specifically and make note of his weaknesses. The three times he saw Blaise before Hogwarts at seven, eight, and nine respectfully, he didn't note any weaknesses, only an alarming grace and movement similar to the Chinese wizards he'd seen at a martial arts shows his father had taken him to.)

So Draco craved the times that Greg and Vince came over to give him something to do in his huge house besides study or carry out his father's sometimes bizarre requests (like singing to the peacocks; even at seven he'd doubted that singing to the birds improved their intelligence).

He helped Greg improve his penmanship. He sat through Vince's reading out loud as he learned to read better. They all puzzled through arithmetic together although he picked it up quicker as he did everything else. (He asked his father about this and after the usual 'Malfoys are superior at everything' speech, his father had mentioned that they were going to betroth him to a girl whose parents were foreigners. He didn't understand the correlation between those two things, so he'd just nodded a lot.) He decided that there was nothing wrong with helping them further because since Malfoys always got the best, it was up to him to ensure that they were the best.

When they got to Hogwarts, Draco wasn't nervous at all about the House he'd be in because 'Malfoys don't get nervous' and he did his best to ignore the fluttering in his stomach and the way Pansy was eyeing him like a hunk of meat. It must have shown on his face because Vince patted him on the back.

"Reckon Marcus and Montague will save us a seat?" Greg asked.

"One of them will." Just like that, Draco's stomach cleared up because of course they'd be saving seats for him at Slytherin because that's where he'd end up, no matter his mother's assurances that they'd both be fine with Ravenclaw (his father had mouthed 'I'll half your inheritance' at that point). "You think Potter will get Slytherin too?"

Even when they dealt with the reality of being denizens of Slytherin House, after Potter had set himself up as Draco's nemesis, and the rest of Hogwarts treated the supposedly evil prejudiced House with plenty of prejudice (and after Pansy's constant harassment, Millicent's trip to the labyrinth, and Daphne's hair, plenty of evil too), they were the two that he was the most comfortable with.

Blaise was even more unsettling than before and Theo was only slightly less shy so they are still no competition to his longstanding companions. Some of the older students approached him, but he had learned to recognize those only interested in his family name by now. Greg and Vince remained themselves so Draco hexed people who call them imbeciles and his goons, and constantly helped them with their assignments because they continued to have problems reading and writing. (They commiserated with him when he raged about his father scolding him for getting lower scores than the mudblood; he knows that he would have done better if he didn't spend so much time helping them but he never blames them or says he's going to stop and they respect him enough not to suggest it.)

The rest of the school never see the arguments they have over Quidditch, or class work, or their debates about which pureblood laws need to be updated or whether or not joining the Dark Lord would be a smart idea. But they happen, and they are only part of the reason that they remain his best friends through the years.


End file.
